In a peace offering to progressives a day after Sen. Bernie Sanders quit the presidential race, Joe Biden announced support on Thursday for an expansion of Medicare and education policies that move closer to his former rival’s agenda, the Los Angeles Times reported. Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, proposed expanding government health insurance coverage by lowering the eligibility age for Medicare from 65 to 60. The former vice president also called for forgiving college debt for low- and middle-income borrowers at public colleges and universities as well as at minority-focused private institutions. Both proposals are less expansive than Sanders’ campaign proposals, which would provide Medicare for citizens of all ages and cancel student debt for all borrowers regardless of income. But they go further than Biden's previous plans, and he gave Sanders credit for inspiring his new policies. In previous policy overtures, Biden embraced bankruptcy reform policies backed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, another progressive former rival for the 2020 nomination. He proposed a Sanders-inspired plan to provide free tuition at public and community colleges, but to a more limited population. And he embraced Warren’s proposal to forgive $10,000 in student loan debt for every borrower to provide relief amid the coronavirus outbreak. Going further in his debt relief plan Thursday, Biden is calling for forgiving tuition-related debt for borrowers earning up to $125,000 income if they attended public colleges or universities, private historically black colleges and other institutions serving minority students.
